MAVEN Capital Partners has highlighted its appetite for further expansion and acquisitions, and revealed it has invested nearly £100 million of client funds over the last two years in private equity, mezzanine finance, and property transactions.

Setting out the Glasgow-based investment house's ambitions, managing partner Bill Nixon declared the last two years had been "extraordinary" in terms of growth.

Underlining Maven's appetite for acquisitions, he added: "We are on the look-out for acquisitions for Maven, of other fund management businesses or relevant contracts. We are in early discussions with other managers, with a view to taking on non-core parts of their business."

And, highlighting the organic growth momentum of Maven, Mr Nixon said: "We are investing at a rate of around £50 million-a-year across all client funds."

Mr Nixon noted that the firm had added nearly 40 new assets to its portfolio in the past two years through its near-£100m of investment.

Maven has increased its funds under management to about £350m, from about £320m in the early part of 2014. Funds under management stood at about £140m in summer 2009, when Mr Nixon formed Maven by leading a management buy-out of the private equity operations of Aberdeen Asset Management.

Mr Nixon said: "The business is now in its sixth year. The last two years have been extraordinary in terms of growth. We have added almost 40 assets to the portfolio, including 10 private equity deals this year."

He highlighted busy years for the Scottish Loan Fund and Greater Manchester Loan Fund, both of which are run by Maven.

Mr Nixon also flagged Maven's conversion of a former office building in Glasgow, Claremont House, into student accommodation.

Declaring there was currently "unsatisfied demand" for student accommodation in Glasgow, he added: "We have several projects in the pipeline."

Maven is currently involved in a project to convert a former office building in Miller Street in Glasgow into an Ibis Styles hotel.

Referring to Maven's property investment activities, Mr Nixon said: "It is pleasing, as well as making investment returns, to be able to do something for the city through the conversions of office or other buildings, converting them into student accommodations or hotels.

"You are able to do something to create employment, create value, and generate returns for your investors."

The number of people employed by Maven is nearing 45, having doubled from when the private equity house was launched in 2009. Twenty-five of these employees are based in Glasgow, and Mr Nixon highlighted Maven's commitment to retaining its headquarters in a city which has seen its fund management sector shrink very significantly in recent times.

Mr Nixon said: "Glasgow will always remain at the core of our business operations. The key reason for that is the calibre of the support staff you can find in Glasgow."

Looking ahead to prospects for 2015, Mr Nixon said: "We are really encouraged by the pipeline we see for 2015. We think the first quarter of 2015 is going to be possibly our busiest ever.

"Obviously, the unknown is the potential change of government in May 2015. For us, it is more of the same."

Mr Nixon noted that Maven had already raised about £9m of the £18m it is seeking in its latest private equity offering, which has a deadline of April 5.

Maven has about 12,000 retail investors across the six venture capital trusts which it runs, as well as a growing number of wealthy individuals who back its deals.

Mr Nixon said: "We will have raised, in 2013 through 2015, assuming we are fully subscribed through the current offer, about £50m for our VCTs in top-up funds."

He added: "We have also supplemented that with our high-net-worth co-investor base. We are adding to that at a rate of about 25 investors a year, who want exposure to private equity and property as an asset class."

Maven's six VCTs, together, account for more than £150m of funds under management.

Mr Nixon highlighted his view that there were better deals to be had in the north of the UK than in the south. He is seeing an over-supply of capital in the south.

He also emphasised his view that banks had become more willing again to back private equity deals.

Mr Nixon also highlighted the resilience of Maven's investments in the oil and gas sector, at a time when there has been a sharp focus on the tumble in crude prices.

He said: "Although we have done quite a bit in oil and gas, we focused very much on the opex (operational expenditure) end of the market.

"We have focused on the mandatory spend: condition monitoring, integrity, safety, software, cleaning, sectors where there is much less scope for spend to be reduced almost regardless of the oil price, although we are being more circumspect over the sector and will avoid any businesses we think are likely to suffer over the short term."